Student Recap

This week has been super stressful to say the least, but I have enjoyed it throughly. It started on Mystery Monday when we had the opportunity to go down by the lake and reflect on some of our greatest experiences, situations that tick us off, and our passions that can help further the Kingdom. We also did “Rhythm Reflections.” This was a time for us to observe steps we needed to take to help find our rhythm in quiet time, areas in our lives that were in stagnant water, what areas are dammed up, and also what things need to be blown up to create a breakthrough. I really enjoyed just taking this time, especially on Monday, to step back and look at the things in my life that I needed to change. I will just give you a short part of my answer! When Tim asked us to list out some of our passions, I knew exactly where my heart was. I automatically wrote down inner city kids, and if you know me at all, you will know that this is my passion! I wrote: My main passion in life is inner city kids. Ever since I was young, my parents showed me what it was like to show compassion for the needy. This stuck with me my whole life, and has led me to my passion for kids. I break down every time I see something happening to those kids, and would do anything to change it. I currently have started to change a kids life little by little, but I see the domino effect it is having. Amir, Alexis, and Aaron are my three babies on my heart at all times. I know they are going to play a big part in my life. Actually, they already have! I pray to continue to follow God in whatever He is calling me to do, and right now I know I’m in the right place.

This week in class, our speaker was Jonathan Morrow. I was very impressed on how much knowledge he had! Jonathan is the author of a few books, and does the website thinkchristianly.org. Tuesday-Thursday he talked about a Christian worldview and how to defend your faith based on scripture and on facts. The main thing I learned was the answer to the question: “Is there historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus?” There are two rules. One, when it comes to history, evidence is what matters, not proof! Two, we must recognize the difference between possible and probable explanations. For example: It is possible that hundreds of hummingbirds pecked at a mountain and made Mount Rushmore, but it is probable that a man did it himself by hand. There are five facts that must be accounted for by anyone who investigates the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. One, Jesus died by roman crucifixion. Two, Jesus’ disciples believed that He rose and appeared to them. Three, the church persecutor, Saul, was radically changed. Four, the skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly changed. Five, the empty tomb (Jerusalem factor, Empty attestation, and the testimony of women). These are the main things that I learned this week with Jonathan Marrow, possibly one of my favorite speakers thus far!

I want to briefly touch on what Jonathan spoke on at The Fort on Wednesday night! Our main passage was Proverbs 4, and the main verses he stuck to were 10-12 talking about guarding your heart. Jonathan talked about what flows out of your heart. In your heart you have beliefs that flow to thoughts/emotions, that flow to choices/words/actions that flow to habits/character, that flow to your destination! The heart is the trailhead, the source, problem. We all think that our bad habits just come naturally, but in reality we do it to ourselves. We are dwelling on these things! If you focus on the same thought 7-12 times a day for at least 30 seconds each time, you will begin to experience changes in your beliefs in 4 days, and habits in 21+ days. REPETITION AND FOCUS!!! We can choose to let our focus be on bad habits, or turn our focus onto the important things! The questions that I’m asking myself are: What is one toxic belief I need to starve, and what is one God-centered belief I need to focus one?